TELEVISION racing pundit John McCririck applauded the swoop by testers from the Jockey Club on a number of top stables.

The yards of Martin Pipe, Venetia Williams, Len Lungo, Paul Nicholls and Alan Jones were all visited early yesterday morning by Jockey Club teams wishing to carry out blood testing on their horses.

McCririck was full of praise for the operation and is pleased to see some positive action from the officials.

He said: "It's a brave and decisive action by the Jockey Club. They're setting an example to sports bodies, not just in this country, but worldwide.

"A fortnight before Cheltenham is the time when anything that was amiss could be detected.

" Hopefully all the horses will now be cleared and the public can go to Cheltenham confident that doping is not happening here and at the Festival.

"Bravo the Jockey Club."

Lungo echoed McCririck's sentiments and said he was pleased to help the Jockey Club team take their blood samples.

He said: " It was announced a long time ago that the Jockey Club would occasionally test horses so we knew that it was in the pipeline for a while.

"Today was just one of those days. It's just part of a screening programme to prove that racing is clean and to help watch the integrity of the sport.

"We were happy to help them. One vet and two security officials came and three of us gave them a hand. We must have tested nearly 80 horses in an hour and a half so it was a good team effort.

"We won't hear any more about it because we know our horses are clean.

"They have all got a job to do and it's good to check so racing's image remains clean. We have nothing to hide."

Pipe was angry at the unannounced visit to his Somerset stable which he claimed upset preparations just a fortnight before the Cheltenham Festival and "looks bad for racing".

But Jockey Club press officer John Maxse stressed that the action by its veterinary department is a sign of racing's regulatory body's determination to deal seriously with the issue, and he believes the moves will back up a belief that drug abuse is "minimal".